Tarzan: Only child, no parents
Jane: Only child, no mother
Jim Hawkins: Only child, no father
Aladdin: Only child, no parents
Jasmine: Only child, no mother
Ariel: Has siblings, no mother
Eric: Only child, parents?
Aurora: Only child, has parents
Philip: Only child, no mother
Peter: siblings and parents unknown
Wendy: has siblings, and parents
Snow White: Only child, no mother (stepmother)
Cinderella: Only child (stepsisters), no parents (stepmother)
Prince Charming: Only child, no mother
Belle: Only child, no mother
Beast: Only child, no parents
Alice: Sibling(s), and parent(s)
Milo Thatch: Only child, no parents
Kida: Only child (?), no mother
Kuzco: Only child, no parents
Giselle: Only child, no parents
Edward: Only child, no father, mother (stepmother)
Nemo: Only child, no mother
Hercules: Has siblings, parents
Mowgli: Only child (?), no parents
Lilo: Has sibling, no parents
Simba: Only child (from his two parents), no mother
Mulan: Only child (give her a break because she's in China), both parents
Shang: Only child, has father but loses him
Pinocchio: Only child, no mother
Robin Hood: Only child, parents unknown
Marian: Only child, no parents
Most of Disney's main characters are missing something! Is there a reason for this theme?
Opinions?
Random picture!
This is a Disney diorama! I want to make these but it looks really hard.
being a Peter fanatic, he has parent but he ran away from them, then when he wanted to come home he found that they had a baby girl, he looked at it as them replacing him, so he ran away back to Never Land. And I think Disney likes to make kids cry, thats something I've notice. Like Fox and the Hound, Nemo, Bambi, 101 Dalmations, the Rescuers, haha Peter Pan always make me cry (although Disney didn't come up with the idea) but it's mostly the older movies that are sad.
ReplyDeleteoh btw heres something disney related u might find interesting
ReplyDeletehttp://nienfr.blogspot.com/2009/04/my-little-brother-is-obsessed-with-new.html
its a post on my blog
I think the second hardest obstacle for a child to overcome is to have no parents/family. (the hardest is an abusive family) So having characters that are quite on their own makes their successes that much more poignant.
ReplyDeleteI believe Simba has a mother... Mufasa dies, but his mother is still there, even after he comes back to the pride when Nala finds him. It's Hamlet with lions, only they didn't go so far as to say Scar was her new 'husband'.
ReplyDeleteAs for the missing parents and siblings, it's something to make the character's basic struggle stronger. They already have to step up to be stronger when dealing with a family that has "missing pieces" so to speak. Look at Belle, she's had to step up and help fill the void of her mother, becoming the responsible young lady of the house rather than the child. And Jasmine and her father have a stronger bond because they share the loss of her mother. She's all he has left, which is part of his drive to do all he can to ensure she's provided for.
Also, it's easier to connect with and root for a character that has no family. They have no one to rely on but themselves (and possibly and animal sidekick). No one provides for them, they have to work for everything they have themselves. Either they've never known what it's like to have a loving family, or they've had it once and then lost it. You become more sympathetic to a character like that, and you want to see them succeed. It's drama enhancing character elements, just a basic tool for making a good story.
Many of the original fairy tales Disney bases things on already have parentless children (or children with abusive parents) for the very same reason. Flip through Grimm and you'll find all sorts of screwed up family situations. If they start off in the story not even possessing the basic comforts of life most people take for granted, then it's even more satisfying to see them marrying the prince or princess, or becoming a loved hero, or fufilling whatever 'impossible' dream they may have.